Bound
by It's Nikki Bitch
Summary: Poppy wanted to forget. But she couldn't. She couldn't leave and disrespect him like that. No matter how much it hurt, she had to stay. She had to live. For him. For she had been bound by the life Branch left behind. SEQUEL TO: Relapse


_**You asked for a sequel. And I feel sad and slightly ashamed now. Continue with caution and discretion. Please take care of yourselves. I love you guys. So much.**_

 _ **WARNINGS/TAGS:**_

 _ **Angst, Character Death, Suicide, Heavy Angst, poppy finds him, Sequel, this is what you're leaving behind, Depression, Read at your own discretion, very sad, very disturbing, you asked for a sequel, here it is, Dark, mature themes, very serious stuff**_

* * *

Branch frequently disappeared for short periods of time. That was normal for him. What wasn't normal was to disappear for an entire day. Poppy instinctively went to search for him. He had probably gone into the woods for some alone time and had fallen asleep. Poppy wasn't all that worried.

She had a surprise for him when she got him back to Troll Village. She had planned a quiet evening for the two of them—just something to relieve stress. The grumpy troll needed it, it seemed.

When the pink troll came upon a clearing, expecting to find her boyfriend staring off into space or something, she saw nothing. Then…

"BRANCH!"

Poppy's legs ached and burned as she ran over to the unconscious figure, bridging the thirty-foot expanse between them within seconds. As the girl dropped to her knees, she could feel rocks ripping through her pink skin and hot, sticky blood oozed from the gashes.

" _Oh god..._ " She shuddered. Poppy reached out to shake the troll conscious, she quickly pulled away when she realized the flesh was cold and clammy.

"F-fuck... No...Branch! No! C'mon, wake up! Funny prank, bud, you can stop it now! You've won, okay? It's not funny anymore!"

But he didn't reply.

 _He's... **NO! No, he's not, Poppy!**_

Wet, black hair was matted to his face and around his neck, tangled and hopelessly knotted. It looks like it's been wrapped around his neck...STOP THINKING ABOUT IT, POPPY! STOP! STOP! STOP!

Thoughts pounded at Poppy's skull and she tried to blink them away. She tried to blink this whole scene away.

 _ **You're dreaming. You're having a nightmare. That's all it is! He isn't really...** But he is **...NO HE'S NOT!**_

 _He must have drowned himself and his body washed up on the shore... **S-Stop it.**_

 _ **stop.**_

At this point, all thoughts went blank and the pink—once bubbly and full of life—troll felt all emotion leave her body. She had felt this feeling before...It was the worst feeling of all. Nothing.

 _"I see your true colors and that's why I love you.."_

Now, seeing Branch as he had been his whole life... _Grey_...ran off all sane thoughts and actions within her.

She couldn't bare to look at his face...His beautiful, haunted face...so instead she grabbed the dead troll's hand and held it to her cheek. The warmth of her face seeped into the flesh and if Poppy closed her eyes, she could almost imagine that nothing had changed, and he was comforting her after a particularly stressful day. He'd kiss her forehead and tell her it was alright. Nothing was wrong. It'll be better, you'll see.

 _"It'll be alright, Pops. You'll see. You always bounce back."_

She didn't think she'd bounce back from this one, though. Tears slipped down her cheeks silently and soon enough her chest heaved heavily with sobs and her shoulders shook as she sobbed over his body, unconsciously leaning in closer to the lifeless figure.

She couldn't breathe through the hiccups, tears, and snot, but it didn't matter. _Hold onto him. He's all you have._

The grey female troll didn't realize when the sun rose over the trees, to grant them with another beautiful, warm morning. She didn't realize when she was being pulled away from Branch's corpse— _"DON'T! DON'T TAKE HIM AWAY FROM ME! LET ME HOLD HIM!"_ She vaguely remembered screaming—until she was being dragged away by Biggie.

Bodies surrounded her, swarmed him, and most of all broke the last link between them.

It seemed like her whole world was still and the only thing Poppy could do was scream into the silence.

 _"BRANCH!"_

* * *

Poppy had opted to not attend the funeral. It was too hard. _Why...He's really gone._ Many of the trolls disapproved of her refusal to go to her boyfriend's funeral — _No...her King's funeral. That's what that night had truly been about..._

The sad, elongated notes of a song drifted through the trees, the whole village weeping for their lost king.

No one had seen it coming. No one knew that Branch was still struggling with himself. _He couldn't deal with it._

Poppy wished she could just leave. Leave this life behind. **FORGET**.

Poppy wanted to **_forget_**. But she couldn't. She couldn't leave and disrespect him like that. No matter how much it hurt, she had to stay. She had to live. For him.

For she had been bound by the life Branch left behind.


End file.
